With so many things competing for attention, leaders at many organizations struggle to get their people to pay enough attention to important communications — such as for change initiatives. And it’s an even bigger struggle to get them to take the messages/information to heart, remember them, and put them into action. Fortunately, neuroscience has provided clues to plan and execute communications that are more engaging and effective.

Jesse’s colleague, communication expert Jamie Barnes, joins him to discuss how to create communications that get the attention of your workforce and make them more likely to retain what they learn and act on it. They discuss the AGES model developed by the NeuroLeadership Institute and provide practical tips for implementing each of its four components:

Attention: Get them to notice and pay enough attention to it.

Generate: Help them generate their own connections to it.

Emotion: Attach a moderate amount of emotion to help them care about it.

Spacing: Prompt them multiple times (and via multiple communication channels) to come back to it and put it into action.

Jamie Barnes is a consulting partner with Workforce Communication. With a focus on change management communications, her approach is rooted in proven practices. She has worked in global firms and creative agencies, and she studied behavior change with behavioral scientist BJ Fogg PhD, the neuroscience of learning with the NeuroLeadership Institute, and change management with Prosci. Jamie studied organizational communications at the University of Chicago and has a BA in social science from National Louis University.

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